National Governing Body For the Olympic Sport of Biathlon 29 Ethan Allen Avenue Colchester, Vermont 05446 www.USBiathlon.org
For Immediate Release Contact: Jerry Kokesh 314-434-9229 314-651-2635 (cell)
Jeremy Teela And Jill Krause Lead US Team Selected For Biathlon World Championships
Lake Placid, NY. March 2. Jeremy Teela of Anchorage, AK and Jill Krause, of St.Cloud,
MN, the top US performers on the Biathlon World Cup Circuit this season, are part of a team of eight US athletes that will compete in the Biathlon World Championships March 12-24 in Khanty-
Mansiysk, Russia.
Krause, Teela and Rachel Steer, also of Anchorage were pre-selected for the team based on performances this season. Krause had two top 30 results, including a 20th place in the
7.5K Sprint Competition at Lahti, Finland. This is the best result in a World Cup competition by a
US woman in several years. Like Krause, Teela’s 15th place in the Men’s 10K Sprint in Ostersund is the top result since Jay Hakkinen’s 7th Place at Oberhof, Germany two years ago. Steer also had two top 30 finishes in world Cup competition this season.
Joining Krause and Steer on the women’s team for the Biathlon World Championships will be Sarah Riley, of Proctor, MN and Tracy Barnes of Durango, Colorado. Riley won the overall title at the Trials held this weekend. Barnes edged out her twin sister, Lanny for the second available position. Both Riley and Barnes were members of the World University Games Team this season. Riley had a 10th place in the sprint competition there and Barnes had a ninth in the individual competition. This will be the first trip to the Biathlon World Championships for both Riley and Barnes. With only Teela pre-selected for the men’s squad, three men qualified for the team in
Lake Placid. They are Lowell Bailey, of Lake Placid, NY, Jay Hakkinen, of Kasilof, AK, and Dan
Campbell of Hastings, MN. Bailey made the team based on the first two competitions, and
Campbell scored enough points in the final 7.5K Relay Format Sprint today to earn spots. Bailey is having his best season ever, which includes an eighth place in the Mass Start competition at the World University Games. Both Hakkinen, 13th placer in the 2002 Olympic Pursuit competition, and Campbell, also a 2002 Olympian are coming back from adversity earlier this season.
Hakkinen missed three weeks with tonsillitis and Campbell the same amount of time with frostbite. Now both seem to be healthy and are ready to compete in Russia.
The team will have a short training camp in Germany before proceeding to Khanty
Mansiysk, which is northeastern Siberia. The competitions will run over the course of 9 days and include a full slate of events.
The US Biathlon Team competes under the auspices of the United States Biathlon
Association, the National Governing Body for the Olympic sport of Biathlon. Federal Cartridge, adidas, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Exel Ski Poles sponsor the US Biathlon
Team.